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EXCLUSIVE: Champion Australian racing dogs are being sneakily transported to China, against the industry’s own rules. With the export of local dogs seen as big business in Asia, this deep dive into the murky world of greyhound racing is presented by Matilda Duncan.

True Crime News Weekly can reveal an investigation by Greyhound Racing Victoria has been underway for months after greyhound industry regulators failed to prevent two record-breaking racing dogs being exported directly to China within the space of a month last year, despite their claims that the industry has worked to “prevent and denounce” the trafficking of racing greyhounds to Asia.

Sending a racing greyhound to China is a breach of racing industry rules as dictated by Greyhounds Australasia, but is not illegal under any Australian law.

One of the dogs exported was Canya Cruise, who was sent directly from Melbourne to China on June 1 last year as a “companion animal”, according to federal government records, just 3 days after running a race at Melbourne’s Meadows greyhound racetrack on May 29.

The second dog followed a month later on July 1, according to the same federal government records, a 4-year-old named Turbo Thomas. The greyhound was shipped from Melbourne to China as a “pet” just 3 weeks after he’d been entered into a race at Victoria’s Shepparton racetrack, but scratched from the line-up at the last minute.

Prior to being sent away to their uncertain fates in China, both dogs had garnered plenty of attention within the gambling industry. By the age of 2 years and 10 months old, Canya Cruise had generated $137,000 in prizemoney for his owners after breaking track records in Queensland and Western Australia during 2020 and 2021. Turbo Thomas had set a new Australasian record in early 2020 after a long winning streak at racetracks throughout New South Wales, winning his owner Trent Anderson $55,000 in prizemoney.